Postcard including photograph mounting means

ABSTRACT

A postcard, for securely mounting a photograph, which includes a well portion having photograph mounting means located therein. The sides of the well portion are of the approximate thickness of the photograph so as to protect the photograph during the cancellation process. The photograph mounting means includes a sheet of adhesive for retaining the photograph and a sheet of non-adhesive material, which may be perforated, to allow all or a portion thereof to be removed in order to mount the photograph on the postcard.

0 United StamS Patent 1 m1 3,713,238

Hyman et al. 1 Jan. 30, 1973 s41 POSTCARD INCLUDING 3,304,641 2/l967Gonczy ..40 15s PHOTOGRAPH MOUNTING MEANS [76] Inventors: Herbert B.Hyman, 440 21st Place, f' Examl'ferwRoben Santa Monica, J R. AsszslantExammer wenceslao Contreras 1 Gramont Jr 883 wenesley Attorney-FranklinD. .lankosky Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. 90049 [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed:Feb. 22, 1971 v A postcard, for securely mounting a photograph, [21]Appl 117233 which includes a well portion having photograph mountingmeans located therein. The sides of the well [52] 0.8. CI ..40/158portion are of the approximate thickness of the photo- [5 1] Int. Cl..G09f 1/10 graph so as to protect the photograph during the can- [58]Field of Search ..40/l 58, l58 B, 125 A cellation process. Thephotograph mounting means includes a sheet of adhesive for retaining thephoto- References Cited graph and a sheet of non-adhesive material,which UNITED STATES PATENTS may be perforated, to allow all or a portionthereof to be removed in order to mount the photograph on the 2,l65,2507/1939 George ..40/l58 R postcard. 2,896,351 7/l959 Johnson ..40/l58 B2,936,540 5/1960 Power ..40/l58 R X 2 Claims, 7 Drawing FiguresPAIENIEUJAIIIJO ma 3.713.238

I2 g I? B HERBERT B. HYMA/V JOHN R. GRAMO/VT, JR

INVENTORS Y \N B :J E I A'I'T RNIJY POSTCARD INCLUDING PHOTOGRAPHMOUNTING MEANS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates topostcards and more particularly to a novel postcard to which aphotograph or the like may be securely mounted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Several prior art mailing devices have beendevised to provide for the retention of a photograph on a postcard, forexample, protruding adhesives have been mounted on a standard postcardto temporarily retain a photograph, a souvenir medal, or the like. Apostcard having multiple overlapping foldable sheets of cardboard, withone sheet having a transparant sheet of plastic to allow a retainedphotograph to be visible has been constructed. While some of theprevious mailing devices would retain the photograph in place, they werenot totally acceptable to the public because the price of these mailingdevices was usually too high because such complicated devices involvedexpensive manufacturing costs.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novelpostcard for securely mounting a photograph that is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novelpostcard for securely mounting a photograph that protects the photographduring the manual or the automatic cancellation process of the postcard,or other mishandling.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a novelpostcard for securely mounting photographs of various sizes on apostcard.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novelpostcard for securely mounting at least two photographs on the samepostcard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the objects set forth above,the present invention provides a novel postcard for securely mounting aphotograph thereon. One embodiment of the postcard includes a wellportion having a photograph mounting means located therein, and sides ofthe well portion protect the photograph during the cancellation processor other mishandling. The photograph mounting means include a sheet ofadhesive for retaining the photograph in the postcard and a sheet ofnonadhesive material that is removed in order to allow the photograph tobe mounted on the postcard.

Another embodiment of the postcard includes a perforated sheet ofnon-adhesive material to allow photo graphs of various sizes to bemounted on the postcard, while still another embodiment of the postcardincludes two well portions, each having respective photograph mountingmeans to allow at least two photographs to be mounted on a singlepostcard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects, advantages, andcharacteristic features of the present invention will become readilyapparent from the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a postcard in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the postcard of FIG. 1 inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the postcard illustrating aphotograph mounted thereon in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a postcard, similar to the one illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2, having modified protective members, in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a postcard having photograph mounting meanswhich include multiple perforated sections in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a postcard illustrating a photograph mountedthereon in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a postcard having two well portionsin accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2,there are shown a plan view and a side elevational view, respectively,of a postcard 10 in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 andthe other side elevational view are slightly enlarged in comparison tothe plan views illustrated. The postcard 10 includes a substrate 11,members 12 and 13, and photograph mounting means 14. The substrate I1and the members 12 and 13 may be of a suitable material such as, thetypes of cardboard that are conventionally used in the manufacture ofpostcards, or ofa plastic material. The members 12 and 13 may be anintegral part of the substrate 1 l, as shown in FIG. 3, or may bemounted to the substrate 11 by conventional means such as an adhesive,as shown in FIG. 2. The substrate 11 and the members 12 and 13 form awell portion to allow the photograph mounting means 14 to be locatedbetween such members 12 and 13. The photo mounting means 14 is comprisedof a layer of adhesive 15 that is disposed on the central part of thesubstrate l l and a sheet of non-adhesive type material 16, such as waxpaper, as shown. The sheet of non-adhesive type material 16 need notnecessarily be of the same thickness as the members 12 and 13.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a side elevational view of thepostcard 10 having a photograph 17 mounted thereon in accordance withthe present invention. The sheet of non-adhesive material 16 may beremoved from the postcard 10 in order that the photograph 17, such asfurther illustrated in FIG. 5, may be mounted to and retained on thepostcard 10 by means of the layer of adhesive 15. The members 12 and 13provide additional protection to the photograph 17 during any automatedcancellation process in a post office, or other mishandling, in thatmembers 12 and 13 are approximately the same height as the photograph17.

Referring now toFIG. 4, there is shown a plan view of another embodimentof a postcard 18 in accordance with the present invention. The postcard18 is similar to the postcard 10 of FIG. 1, except that the photomounting means 14 is mounted between members 19 and 20 that are beveledat respective angles, as shown. Such beveling of members 19 and 20 notonly provides a well portion to align a photograph within the postcardl8,

but provides the extra advantage of permitting the photograph 17 to bepartially overlapped by the members l9 and 20 so that during anyautomatic cancellation process or mishandling, the photograph 17 willremain intact.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a plan view of still anotherembodiment of a postcard 21 in accordance with the present invention.The postcard 21 includes a substrate 11, as shown in early figures, andmay include either the members 12 and 13 or the members l9 and 20, asrespectively illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. However, the photo mountingmeans 13 of the instant embodiment includes a sheet of non-adhesivematerial 22 having a plurality of overlapping areas, as defined by thevertically aligned perforated lines or indentations designated A, B, C,and D. Such defined areas permit one to take off only a portion of thesheet of non-adhesive material 22 in order to mount various sizedphotographs on the postcard 21. It should be understood that even thoughthe perforated lines A, B, C, and D are illustrated as vertical lines,such perforated lines may be either vertical, horizontal, or both. Itshould be further understood that even though a stamp 23 is illustratedon the upper right hand corner of FIG. 5, the stamp 23 may be on thereverse side of the various postcards illustrated and that therespective exposed surfaces of substrate 11 and the members l2, 13, 19and 20 may be of a suitable material to provide a' writing surface, asillustrated.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a plan view of a postcard havinga pair of horizontal members 12 and 13. The horizontal members 12 and 13may be constructed of the same material as the previously shown verticalmembers 12 and 13 of FIG. 2 and may be mounted to substrate 11 to form apicture-frame construction for mounting the photograph 17.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a side elevational view of apostcard 24 in accordance with the present invention. The postcard 24includes a substrate 25 having members 26, 27, 28 and 29 mounted thereonand a pair of photograph mounting means14a and 14b. Thus, a pair of.photographs, similar to the photograph 17, may be mounted on thepostcard 24. The substrate 25, as well as the members 26, 27, 28 and 29,may be of similar material as the earlier discussed substrate 11 andmembers l2, l3, l8 and 19. It should be understood that, as in the caseof the earlier discussed postcards, the members 26, 27 28 and 29 may bean integral part of the substrate 25, or may be mounted to the substrate25 by conventional adhesive means. It should be further understoodthat'while the respective wells between the members 12 and 13 and themembers 19 and 20 are illustrated as being centrally located betweensuch members, one of the members may be smaller in width than itscounterpart so as to offset a well from the center line of the postcard.

Thus, although the present invention has been shown and described withreference to particular embodiments, for example, photograph mountingmeans including a non-adhesive member having perforations, variationsand modifications obvious to a person skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains, for example, photograph mounting means including aplurality of separate non-adhesive members, are deemed to be within thespirit, scope and contemplation of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

What IS claimed is:

1. A mailing device comprising:

first means having at least one recessed area for mounting a photograph,said first means includes beveled means to form said recessed area forpartial overlapping of a mounted photograph by said first means forensuring the protection of said mounted photograph during thecancellation process of said mailing device; and

second means located within said recessed area adapted for retaining aphotograph, said second means including adhesive means and non-adhesivemeans, said adhesive means being located between said first means andsaid non-adhesive means, said non-adhesive means for protecting theadhesive characteristics of said adhesive means, and said adhesive meansfor retaining a photograph on said first means subsequent-to the removalof said nonadhesive means.

2. A mailing device as recited in claim 1 wherein said first meansincludes respective recessed areas for mounting respective photographson opposite sides of said first means, each respective recessed areahaving respective second means located therein.

1. A mailing device comprising: first means having at least one recessedarea for mounting a photograph, said first means includes beveled meansto form said recessed area for partial overlapping of a mountedphotograph by said first means for ensuring the protection of saidmounted photograph during the cancellation process of said mailingdevice; and second means located within said recessed area adapted forretaining a photograph, said second means including adhesive means andnon-adhesive means, said adhesive means being located between said firstmeans and said non-adhesive means, said nonadhesive means for protectingthe adhesive characteristics of said adhesive means, and said adhesivemeans for retaining a photograph on said first means subsequent to theremoval of said non-adhesive means.
 1. A mailing device comprising:first means having at least one recessed area for mounting a photograph,said first means includes beveled means to form said recessed area forpartial overlapping of a mounted photograph by said first means forensuring the protection of said mounted photograph during thecancellation process of said mailing device; and second means locatedwithin said recessed area adapted for retaining a photograph, saidsecond means including adhesive means and non-adhesive means, saidadhesive means being located between said first means and saidnon-adhesive means, said non-adhesive means for protecting the adhesivecharacteristics of said adhesive means, and said adhesive means forretaining a photograph on said first means subsequent to the removal ofsaid non-adhesive means.